Next up in the #UFC205 previews is an intriguing welterweight bout pitting “Cowboy” Donald Cerrone against Kelvin Gastelum. Originally scheduled to be Cerrone vs Lawler which arguably would have been an even better draw, but Gastelum is definitely not to be overlooked in the stacked 170lbs division.
Since making the move up to welterweight Cerrone has looked unstoppable and has won all his fights via stoppage and just seems to be back to his old self, enjoying fighting and not having the added worry of cutting down to 155lbs. Weight is certainly an issue for Gastelum who has missed weight on a couple of occasions and so you have to give Cerrone a slight advantage in that regards. Albeit Gastelum does now seem to have his weight under control.
The way that Cerrone handled Rick Story in his last fight at #UFC202 was incredible and had the McGregor and Diaz rematch not been the main event on that show, I think more people would be singing the praises of just what Cerrone achieved in that fight. Likewise, the way that Gastelum was able to shut down former Welterweight Champion Johny Hendricks in their bout at #UFC200 was a really tip in his cap and was arguably one of his finest performances to date.
So what we have in this bout is two guys who are both top ten Welterweights, looking to break into that top five rankings and really prove their worth in the Welterweight division. Its very hard to pick a winner for me though as both men have been known to have their days off in the office and therefore for me the winner will be the guy who turns up on fight night as skills wise both of these guys are very similar.
Gastelum has a grinding style and will look to pressure Cerrone, who is definitely not known for taking a step back. Cerrone will look to use his height and reach advantage to pick off Gastelum at range and use his body kicks to slow down the bigger man. If Gastelum is able to get hold of Cerrone and take him down it will be interesting to see how the fight develops on the mat. There are a lot of variations to how this fight could play out and it makes for a very intriguing bout.
The winner of this one won’t be jumping up and down for a Title shot but will probably only be one or two fights away!